Hasty Bake

[drholly]

Do any of you have one of these (Hasty Bake) or have you tried them? My favorite blogger in the world - Jeannie Cowgirl - has one and mentions it on her blog from time to time. I am kinda sorta thinking of investing in a new cooker this year or next. Right now the contest is between the RecTec and the Hasty Bake. I really like the versatility of the Hasty Bake - especially for cooking pizzas and bread. The ability to change the level of the charcoal is interesting.

So, any thoughts both ways would be helpful - Thanks!

[hikerman]

David I seem to remember that Old Dave has a Hasty Bake in his arsenal.

[drholly]

Old Dave.... true? Any thoughts?

Thanks,

D

[Old Dave]

Morning David,

I own two of these wonderful grill/smokers and love them.



This is my Hasty-Bake Model 130 and is about 45 years old and still cooks great. I did purchase this one used. The used ones are hard to find as most folks sure hang on to them and they do last for many years if a fellow takes care of them.



This is my Hasty-Bake Model 257 Gourmet all Stainless Steel grill/smoker and it is about 5 years old. I call it my "lottery" cooker as a fellow needs to win the lottery or at least get a second mortgage on his home to own one. This is my pride and joy!

In my opinion, I think this is the very best charcoal cooker ever made. There are many ways to cook on this cooker and it also is setup for a rotisserie and that is a must for my method of cooking. It will pretty much do it all including great direct grilling, indirect grilling, or even both at the same time. I smoke cheese on the cooker at very low temps. I also do my indirect low and slow cooks at temperatures ranging from about 225 to 325 degrees. Does nice poultry at about 300-350 degrees along with many casseroles and other items like meat loaf. It will also bake at the higher temps but not as well as some other cookers. I say this as I know you want it for this reason.

Ok, I need to splain...while the cooker will do these bakes, it take a ton of charcoal to get the temps up that high and maintain them for the time needed to finish a bake. When you look at that cooker, and see how many cubic inches are there from the ground up to the top of the cooker where you want to place your baking, just too much room to heat easily.

Your Weber Performer can be setup to do all your baking and pizza cooks very easily and in my opinion, would be better at this than a Hasty-Bake.

I have about 15 articles on my blog on this cooker with some good information. You can find it here:
 
http://olddavespo-farm.blogspot.com/search/label/Hasty%20Bake%20%2F%20Classic%20Cooker

When you get to the end of the page, you need to click on "older posts" to keep reading the articles.

Be more than happy to answer any other questions that you might have on the cooker.

Dave
stam@ccrtc.com
765-386-2856

[okie52]

Had some fine food from a hasty Bake grill (manufactured right here in good ole OK).  Love the ability to raise and lower the grill.

Never cooked on one personally but my friends that have them love them.

I still prefer pellet grills for smoking but I can certainly understand the attraction for hasty bake

[Pappymn]

I believe Sparky had one too for awhile

[smokeasaurus]

Yup, Sparky owned one..her name was Hazel. Hasty Bake is one of the oldest Mfgs around along with Char-Broil and Kingfisher Cookers.

I believe the main source of fuel for Hasty Bakes is lump charcoal.

[drholly]

Dave,

Thanks for the excellent information, especially re: baking. It'll be some time before I make another purchase, but I enjoy contemplating. I will check your blog.

Thanks again!